'Bamaland

     Yes, that's where I am.  On the sunny, well it ain't exactly sunny at the moment, gulf coast.  Makes me feel like a traitor to the northland.  You'd think a fisherman like me would fish while surrounded by all this water.  And there are fish down here for sure.  But the poles sit at home.  

     Maybe it's because the water's too big and I don't recognize it as fishing territory.  Kinda like John Steinbeck's dog in Travels With Charley (if you haven't read it, Charley's the dog).  Steinbeck takes Charley from Long Island to the redwood forests of California just so his dog can pee on one of the largest trees in the world.  Since he takes a kind of convoluted, roundabout way to get there, Steinbeck figures he might as well write a book about the trip (okay, I realize that might be an exaggeration but the trip and the book really did happen and the dog Charley did find himself upside a redwood just so his master could watch him take a leak on a big tree).  

     Anyhow, Charley doesn't realize he's standing next to a tree 'cause the thing is so big.  Like nothing he's ever seen before and doesn't know he's supposed to piss on the trunk so Steinbeck can be happy and have something to perk up the book.  Finally Charley's master (that's Steinbeck in case this story has gotten too wordy) uproots a little bush and leans it against the bigger tree.  Charlie's lightbulb then pops on, he lifts his leg and fires.

     So, maybe that's why I don't fish down here.  The water's too big for me to recognize as fishing territory.  But I am tempted to take a leak in the water one of these night's when no one's looking.